pls keep being aware
don't let us pull a Cinderella at midnight
as another asexual awareness week draws to a close, i am feeling a good mix of exhilarated, exhausted, elated, and somewhat hopeful?
this week every single year has been a real marker of my life. two years ago during ace awareness week i came out. i wrote a piece for Refinery29 Australia (R29) about how Heartbreak High had made me accept being asexual. at the time, writing this piece was a really terrifying decision, and i remember going back and forth with loved ones about whether or not to post about the article on my Instagram. at the time i was a mostly posting micro fashion content creator stuff, so posting something so out of my norm was a big deal to me. but i did it, i came out publicly (and lowkey monetised my coming out by writing an article lol) and it was the best decision i would ever make.
at this time in my life i was studying a masters of early childhood education (lore drop), and i had no intention of working in media, however i had friends at R29 and i loved what R29 stood for, so when i watched Heartbreak High i just knew that i needed to write something about it. i never realised that by writing that one piece that i would be putting myself on the path to where i am today.
fast forward to one year later, i was in my first week at my new full time role at R29 as their social producer. in the intervening year between ace awareness weeks i has been writing a lot more. i think that Heartbreak High article had awoken something in me, and i was never going to be satisfied with being a kindergarten teacher after feeling the belonging and joy that i did when working in media. so when my boss at R29 the lovely Zahra Campbell-Avenell plucked me from obscurity and asked me to apply for the social producer role at R29, the only thing to say was yes.
despite basking in the new job glow, last ace awareness week was a tough one. i wrote an article for Gay Times and i received death threats, had the worst insults thrown at me and my community, and was severely bullied online. the worst part of this was that the hate came from other queer people. it was last ace awareness week that i think i lost my asexual innocence, and realised just how cruel people can be.
fast forward another year; R29 closed down, i am now a freelancer, it’s Melbourne Fashion Week (truly why do ace awareness week and MFW always have to be on the same week, its a busy season for asexual fashion girlies), and i realised how much i want to use the platform that i am lucky enough to have for good.
i have written many an article this week (can’t keep an opinionated broad down) and the outpouring of love from not just the asexual community, but from other queer people and straight allies who want to learn has been so immensely touching. sure, there is the occasional dickhead in the comments but the response to ace awareness week this year has felt much more positive than other years i have witnessed.
so, where do we go from here?
i hope that people are open to learning more about asexuality year round. i hope that the queer community is even less divided by next ace week. i hope that we stop being the butt of the joke. i hope the ace people who have been fighting this fight for so many years can rest. i hope for not just acceptance, but for celebration.
so happy ace awareness week everybody, and i look forward to seeing what life has in store over the next year. until then, stay excellent đŸ’œ
p.s. more of my asexual musings from this week
I’m awareness will never stop!!!!